The Periodic Table

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LordStryker

13:10

@Dissenter Given more orthodox approaches for deducing molecular geometries, I don't think it would be all that surprising if a professor didn't know Bent's rule. I certainly have never encountered it through my 9 years of undergraduate and gradate studies that I can recall.

Dissenter

13:27

Okay! Thanks for the answer

Greg E.

13:46

@LordStryker, long time no see. Congratulations on your success.

tschoppi

Greetings o/

And congratulations @LordStryker!

LordStryker

14:27

@GregE. @tschoppi Thanks! :)

Between moving and starting this new job I haven't had a chance to log in to my favorite site!

Greg E.

@LordStryker, understandable, yet unacceptable.

LordStryker

@GregE. I know I know. I've been flogging myself per absent day. :(

2 hours later…

Dissenter

16:07

Sweet, thanks @LordStryker

So @LordStryker when did you encounter it if not in undergrad or grad?

LordStryker

@Dissenter When I googled it this morning just after reading your question. :)

Greg E.

@Dissenter, for whatever it's worth, I don't think I had seen it before, either.

Although now that it has a name, I can suddenly see the motivation for a lot of the (somewhat handwavy) VB theory-based justifications and explanations from my old orgo classes.

LordStryker

16:30

so much hand-waving! Its almost like we just love saying 'hi' to each other as chemists!

Dissenter

You guys should have my professor

Greg E.

I know, I'd gladly trade some social grace and courtesy for rigor.

Dissenter

He got into chemistry because he couldn't do math

Greg E.

Of course, that hasn't worked as well in my personal life, but meh.

Dissenter

All he does is poo poo quantum chemists

Greg E.

16:32

That's unfortunate.

Dissenter

I feel like we've taken hand-waving to its logical conclusion

Probably time for me to move on from him and find another professor to chat about chemistry with

Greg E.

Oh, is that the logical conclusion? I thought maybe carpal tunnel syndrome.

Dissenter

Lol

I just feel that I learned a lot of chemistry from him but I can't be stuck using qualitative methods forever

As he does

LordStryker

@Dissenter Sounds like a typical 'old' experimentalist.

Dissenter

Heh

Told me that if he asked one of these new "chemists" to make a 1 M NaOH solution, they wouldn't be able to make it

Greg E.

16:37

Yeah, I similarly got fed up with that approach some time ago, but learning fundamental, quantitative MO theory is really hard, at least for me.

Dissenter

That's a gauntlet thrown down for you @GregE. and @LordStryker!

Greg E.

Well, NaOH is so hygroscopic that it's actually harder than it sounds.

But I've done it to within a reasonable degree of error already.

Dissenter

Lol good catch

LordStryker

@Dissenter The amount of bitterness that man must have to make such a silly statement must be mindblowing.

Its like arguing about who's dick is bigger...

Rather than argue, both should be pounding away at chemistry problems as a team.

Dissenter

You haven't heard the rest

He's the best gen chem teacher on Earth

He wrote the best lab manual on Earth

LordStryker

16:42

All glory to qualitative man!

Dissenter

LOL

LordStryker

Hail he who hath given us the light

Greg E.

Forsooth, he hath shineth his countenance upon us all.

LordStryker

So say we all

Amen and amen

Dissenter

Tbh at least he does the qual. stuff well

If not the quant.

Well we don't really touch quant.

Greg E.

16:43

Yet remain vigilant, the shadowy forces of quantum chemistry lurk ominously upon the horizon...

LordStryker

"So this stuff over here is more redder than that stuff over there. <sigh of achievement> I'm going on break!"

Dissenter

QM is "bullshit"

Says qual man

LordStryker

His wavefunction just collapsed to the wrong state (state of denial). Thats all.

Greg E.

So QM dissed QM? Oh, the bitter irony.

Dissenter

I didn't know what to make of that statement; I just nervously laughed

LordStryker

16:45

@GregE. Perfect. bravo.

Dissenter

So that's why I'm here guys on SE

Greg E.

Thank you, sir.

Dissenter

You guys will give me the arms to defeat qual man

LordStryker

Beware of Q man!

Beware of QM

Dissenter

Now, back to Bent's rule ... can I use Bent's rule successfully when other qual methods fail?

LordStryker

16:46

@Dissenter Possibly, as long as its been calibrated first. (my packaged answer for most everything)

Dissenter

Calibrated for precision not accuracy?

LordStryker

If its calibrated for precision and has an error which scales linearly, you can always implement a scaling factor and 'poof' you're good to go!

Dissenter

Great, I'm late for orgo. guess I gotta go to the later lecture today

Greg E.

Qualitatively, you're probably close enough (taking as a relative scale the entire world) that we can regard you as having attended.

LordStryker

@GregE. You keep reminding me why I love to come hang out here.

Greg E.

16:57

@LordStryker, pleasure is all mine.

2 hours later…

Awal Garg

18:29

Q: Can we make "what-if" questions locally on-topic on their respective sites?

Proposal: Scientific Imagination The above proposal is inspired by and meant for the "What-If" category of questions. These questions, no doubt, can create some amount of discussion and arguments, but a significant amount of them can be perfectly answered. I personally like the proposal, and I ...